A dental implant is a device used to anchor, via an abutment, a dental prosthesis into living bone and tissue. The implant is placed into bone tissue to provide a solid foundation for the abutment and prosthesis attached to the abutment. Dental implants, abutments, and their prostheses serve numerous purposes, such as: chewing, where they oppose teeth or other prosthesis to allow mastication to take place; preventing extrusion of opposing teeth by providing sensory input and contact; and, providing an aesthetic appearance.
In order to place an implant into the jawbone, the recipient site in the jawbone typically needs to be shaped with drills or other tools, such as expanders and piezoelectric tips, to prepare the site for implant placement. Dental implants may be placed immediately after extraction or after healing of the extraction site with or without a grafting material. Frequently, it may be difficult to achieve the required thickness of buccal bone with an implant of adequate width to provide sufficient support for the prosthesis. In such a case, a lack of sufficient buccal bone may result in the loss of supporting tissues (bone and gums) due to a reduced surface area of blood supply around the implant. Lack of sufficient buccal bone presents a dilemma for the clinician, because use of an narrower implant and abutment that may better fit within the buccal bone may experience failure during use due to overloading with bite forces whereas use of a wider implant (and accompanying abutment) may compromise aesthetics and result in potential tissue loss sequelae.
Accordingly, it would be an advance in the art to provide dental implants and abutments that overcome the problems associated with potential bone and/or gum tissue loss sequelae, while providing sufficient prosthesis support and preserving aesthetics.